Family files $5 million defamation suit against Johnson Publishing's 'Ebony'

A Georgia FBI agent and his wife filed a defamation lawsuit Wednesday against Chicago-based Johnson Publishing Co. and a freelance writer, claiming a series of articles that ran in Ebony magazine falsely implicated their sons in the death of a high school classmate.

Richard and Karen Bell are seeking at least $5 million in damages from Johnson Publishing and author Frederic A. Rosen for linking their sons, despite the use of pseudonyms, to the death of Kendrick Johnson, who was found dead inside a rolled-up gym mat at his high school in January 2013, according to the suit.

State medical examiners concluded the death of Johnson, then a 17-year-old student at Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Ga., was accidental asphyxiation after becoming trapped while attempting to retrieve a shoe that fell into the large rolled-up mat.

The racially-charged case -- Johnson was African-American and the Bells are white -- gained national media attention, including the 10 Rosen-bylined stories, which ran in Ebony between August 2013 and April 2014.

According to the lawsuit, Rosen developed the theory that Johnson was murdered by blunt force trauma and placed inside the mat. The series referred to brothers "Chris and Clark Martin," the fictitious names of fellow students whose father was identified as an FBI agent, as possible suspects.

The defamation lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, claims that many students, teachers and coaches "were well aware" that Chris and Clark Martin were in fact pseudonyms for the sons of Valdosta FBI agent Rick Bell, who were subsequently "threatened with bodily harm and ostracized" after the stories were published in Ebony.

"When Mr. Rosen stated that these were sons of a Valdosta FBI agent, it didn't take any time for the folks in Valdosta to know who they were," said Brice Ladson, a Savannah, Ga., attorney representing the Bells.

A Johnson Publishing spokeswoman declined to comment. Efforts to reach Rosen late Thursday were unsuccessful.

Michael J. Moore, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, opened an investigation in October and convened a federal grand jury in March to look into Johnson's death. No indictments have been announced, but the investigation is ongoing, according to Moore.

"It's more important that we get it right and that we be thorough than it is to be governed by some artificial time deadline," Moore said."We're continuing with the investigation."

In April, Ladson sent a letter on behalf of the Bells to Johnson Publishing and Rosen, demanding a written retraction and payment of $1.5 million in damages to resolve the matter. The stories were removed from the Ebony website in May, but Johnson Publishing did not issue a retraction or pay compensatory damages, according to the lawsuit.

Removing the stories from the website did not repair the damage to the Bells' reputation, according to Ladson.

"It's not enough because the effect upon the reputation on the Bells in Valdosta has been devastating," Ladson said. "That's why we seek the damages that are in the complaint."

The three-count lawsuit said Johnson Publishing knowingly published "false statements of criminal conduct" by the plaintiffs, permanently damaging their personal reputations, and Rick Bell's professional reputation as an FBI agent. It is seeking $4 million or more for compensatory damages; at least $1 million in punitive damages; and legal expenses.

Ebony, a 68-year-old lifestyle magazine targeting African-American readers, has a total average circulation of 1.26 million, according to the Alliance for Audited Media.